Do you like baking sweet treats for family and friends? Have you become the resident dog-walker and pet-groomer of your neighborhood? Did you ever look at an ad and said "I can do better than that"? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then it's high time to consider turning your passion into a business.

Experts often tell would-be entrepreneurs to look into their own interests and hobbies when thinking of starting their own business - and this is sound advice. Loving what you do and believing in your abilities enable you to put more attention and energy into building your business, even inspiring you to be more creative. For example, someone who truly loves baking and has already scored hits with cheesecakes and brownies would be more motivated to create other delightful goodies that can further beef up her product line - and entice more customers.

Your passion can also help you through the many challenges that come with starting a business. The first few years are often rough and difficult as you begin to establish a foothold in the industry or gain a following for your product. Without passion, the many frustrations that come with building a business may force you to quit. This is also true if you go into business just for the sake of money.

So now that you know that you're a great enough pastry chef to start your own bakeshop, or creative enough to build an advertising consultancy, how do you go about turning your passion into a business?

One of the most important steps in establishing a business is to define your market. Do you want to start a daycare center for middle-income families? Want to put up a neighborhood coffee shop? Knowing your target market, and defining important factors like age and income level, can help you design products and services that will meet your target customers' needs. It can even help you forecast what other services they might require from a business like yours in the future. Knowing their needs can also help you determine important elements like where to locate your business.

The next step is to know the competition. Is someone from your neighborhood already offering pet grooming services? Who are the leading names in the ad consultancy business? By checking out similar businesses, you can identify the difference and highlight the strengths of your own product and service -- and capitalize on them.

Making a business plan is an extremely essential step in your venture. This is because business plans allow you to plot your path from where you begin to where you want your business to be. In making a business plan, you should be able to define your objectives, delineate responsibilities, and even pinpoint possible new opportunities that can be utilized by your business.

Figuring out how to finance your business is undoubtedly the biggest challenge in putting up your own company. Some entrepreneurs keep their full-time jobs while seeing to their business part-time, ensuring a steady income while their own company begins to become self-sufficient. If you plan on quitting your job eventually, make sure you save much of your income to tide you through the first few months of being solely an entrepreneur. Loaning from a bank, or even from family or friends, are other options you can explore.

Finally, you need to come up with a marketing strategy to let the world know about your venture. Word-of-mouth is one of the most effective - and economical - tactics in promoting business; after all, loyal customers who love your brownies will surely spread the word to their friends who in turn will become a new set of dedicated patrons. If your business is located in your village, you can promote it by giving out flyers or putting up posters in common areas like the clubhouse.

Technology is also an important means to advertise your products and services. Web sites allow you to share as much information as you want about your company, easily and economically. It also assures maximum exposure, what with millions of people browsing the World Wide Web everyday.

Starting a business on something you love to do already puts you a step ahead of the competition. And with creativity, business savvy and tenacity, you can parlay your passion into business success.